Wings of Change
by MoonLightView
Summary: Two weeks turned to two months. A simple mission turned into a much harder one. But he managed to survive even though his body suffered more than cuts and bruises. I suck at summaries. R
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING**

….

That empty seat was starting to bother him. Normally an empty seat in debriefing room aboard the Helicarrier meant that one of the Avengers was on a mission somewhere and that the spot would soon be reclaimed by its owner in a matter of days or weeks. Sadly, two months had gone by with no sight of the chair's owner and none of the remaining Avengers would sit in it. It was like the team had assigned seats or something and they would have small arguments whenever someone stole their favorite spot.

Sigh…that empty seat was **REALLY **starting to bother him.

A moment later the door to conference opened and Agent Maria Hill stepped in. "Director Fury, the Avengers have just arrived," she stated in an even voice. But to those who knew her personally the slight twinge of nervousness in her voice would be evident. It was excusable really. Hill was well aware of the news that was about to be said to incomplete team of superheroes and Fury knew for a fact that the female agent was glad that she wasn't delivering the message.

"Alright, send them in," Fury said, barely suppressing a sigh when he already heard Tony Stark's voice in the distance. Today was going to be a long day.

**XxXxX**

Tony Stark knew his teammates were staring at him. He also knew that should stop tapping his hand against the table, but right now it was the only small comfort he had after being told information about his missing friend who had left on a mission two months ago.

"Director Fury," starts Steve Rogers while raising his voice slightly to be heard over Tony's excessive tapping. "Why are we just now finding out that Clint's gone missing? Why were we kept in the dark about this for so long?"

"It's not unheard of for an agent to cut off contact with SHIELD when on an undercover mission. Agent Barton has done this many times in the past, but he would always reconnect with us once he deems it safe to do so."

Dr. Banner then spoke up. "How long was he suppose to be gone?"

The one eyed man glanced at Bruce warily. Already he could see a slight flashes of green in the doctor's normally brown eyes. He also knew that all eyes were on him as they waited for him to answer the question. This wasn't going to end well at all. "Two weeks."

The silence was so deafening that it was to the point that the tapping on the desk would've been a welcoming sound. But Fury knew that the silence was the calm before the storm.

"THEN WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU TELL US SOMETHING HAD WENT WRONG ONCE THE TWO WEEKS HAD PASSED?!" shouted Stark, his brown eyes ablaze with untold fury. To hear that Hawkeye had been missing for two months and nobody did a damn thing about it until now made Tony want to repulsor something or somebody. He knew he wasn't the only who felt this way. Thor had a furious look on his face and the sound of thunder could be heard from outside. Steve had a look on his face that was scarier than the disapproving look he usually graced Tony with. Bruce's eyes were now full on green and his skin was starting to get that way too. And even though Natasha's face was carefully blank, the way she was fingering her gun told how truly angry she was.

"Do you have any idea where he is, Director?" Natasha asked. Her voice remained even and calm, but she was gripping her gun so hard the rest of the team thought it would break. "Do you know if he's even…?"

"As of right now, SHIELD has no Intel on Hawkeye's whereabouts, but we do know that he is in fact alive," he paused for a second to hear the collection of relieved sighs. Turning around to a large screen behind him, Fury pushed a button on a remote his was holding. Instantly, the screen lit up and displayed vast amount of information on someone by the name of Dirk Jackson.

Dirk Jackson, a once world renowned scientist that disappeared five years ago after rumors and investigations sprouted up that several of his colleagues and students had started going missing. SHIELD had sent Clint on a mission to track down this mysterious man after sightings of him were reported. But unfortunately, the mission had somehow turned sour and now the team was missing their star archer.

Bruce Banner allowed his eyes to travel over the information that was displayed on the screen. Whoever this Dirk Jackson was, he was definitely into mutating the genetics of animals and people. The pictures shown were of humans that he assumed were the ones that went missing. If Clint's disappearance had anything to do with this guy then he knew it would be serious trouble.

Fury pressed another button on the remote that caused the images on the screen to switch to something else. The whole team couldn't help but gasp at the graphic images.

"This is the area that Hawkeye was sent to investigate, or what's left of it, "explained Fury. The new images consisted of a laboratory that had been completely destroyed. Fires and dead bodies of both mutants and personnel were littered around the site while others who had managed to survive were tied up together.

Despite all the bad news Tony was receiving that day he couldn't help but smirk at the damage. "I take it our hawk is responsible for all of that destruction?"

The Director managed a small smirk as well. "Along with that he managed to download information about the other suspects who were involved with the kidnapping and mutations of the victims. SHIELD has already dispatched a team to round them up. Unfortunately Dirk Jackson managed to escape." Before Nick could say anything else Tony Stark was on his feet.

"So our missing hawk is out there probably searching for this asshole, right? I say we start looking for him and bring him home!" Bruce, Thor, and Steve seemed to agree and were ready to follow the genius out the door, but they stopped when they realized that Natasha wasn't following. Instead she was glaring at the one eyed man in front of her.

"What aren't you telling us, Director?" she hissed. Warning bells soon went off in the other Avengers' heads and all eyes were on Fury once again.

Fury sometimes wished that Natasha wasn't so perceptive, but he knew the truth was bound to come out anyway. With a sigh he pressed one last button the remote. "This is message from Hawkeye that SHIELD had received before we lost contact with him again.

Gasps and quiet mumblings filled the room before a familiar voice was heard.

"_This is…Hawkeye reporting in… from Mission: 23453. From what you can already_ _tell…the mission went completely FUBAR." _There was long pause in the recording that the others concluded was from the obvious exhaustion in their missing friend. _"Dirk Jackson managed to escape, but he left all of his science experiments for SHIELD to have. I'm…I'm gonna try to go after him. Can't let someone as…dangerous as him…run wild." _The agent's next words were blurred by static, but finally cleared up in the end. _"…late for me…can't return home….tell Avengers m'sorry I can't come home anymore. This… is good-bye. Hawkeye out." _

"What does the archer mean that he can't come home?" asked Thor once the recording had ended. "What has happened to our friend?"

"I don't know, Thor," Tony said. "But I'm not going to stand here and wait to find out!" He then motioned for the rest of the team to follow out the door. "We're gonna find Hawkeye no matter what!"

**XxXxXxX**

Clint let out a pain filled groan when moved his body the wrong way. Every inch of him was covered in bruises, burns, and cuts from his ordeal with Dirk, but he couldn't take it easy until the man was dead. He tried to get up, but weight on his back plus his numerous injuries stopped him cold. He glared angrily at the new edition to his person as rage and frustration began building up in his chest. He couldn't go home now because of what that man did to him. He wasn't sure if he would survive long enough to exact revenge, let alone see his friends again.

With a soft sigh Clint tried to push himself up again. This time he managed to succeed without crying out in agony. He had to redress some of bandaged wounds because they were now stained red with his blood. Afterwards he would use the laptop he somehow managed to snag from the now destroyed lab to track down Dirk's possible locations. He'd find that man no matter what.

Another wave of pain made the archer curl into himself and let out a stream of curses under his breath. Something soft gently brushed against Clint's cheek, causing him to look up. Brown and white feathers were falling before his eyes and the sniper just wanted to scream. He redoubled his efforts and finished changing his bandages quicker. Once he was through he staggered over to the stolen laptop. Broken glass that was once a mirror littered the floor, but Clint couldn't find it in himself to care if they cut into his bare feet.

As long as he didn't see what he had become.

**END CHAPTER**

…

Just an idea that popped into my mind. Decided it would be fun to write. Review and tell me what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING**

…

The level of destruction was even worse in person and Tony couldn't help but let out a small whistle of appreciation of the work of their missing friend. The fires were still being put out by the time he, Bruce, and Cap arrived on the scene, and dead bodies of both mutated humans and scientists were still being rounded up.

"Definitely didn't show any mercy here, did he?" asked Bruce in a whispered tone after surveying the wreckage.

"After being kidnapped by these fuckers for months, he shouldn't have to," growled Tony as he kicked a large piece of scrap metal across the floor. The three Avengers were then approached by Agent Jasper Sitwell, who was overseeing the recovery and clean-up.

"Afternoon gentlemen," greeted the man. "I assume you've heard the news about Barton."

"You assume correctly," replied Steve before giving the man a stern look. "Though, I wish we could've heard about his disappearance sooner."

Agent Sitwell flinched at the disappointed look that Captain America was giving him before trying to sputter out a excuse. Agent Barton was known for occasionally disappearing for long periods of time while on a mission, but he always returned home. SHIELD just didn't want to get the Avengers riled up for no reason.

"Yeah, well that plan certainly backfired, didn't it?!" yelled Tony. "I knew I should've broken that promise to Clint about not hacking into SHIELD's computer systems. We could've found him and saved him. Clint could've been home, safe and sound with us!"

Agent Sitwell opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Steve. "The very next time a mission goes wrong with either Natasha or Clint and they go missing, I expect SHIELD to tell the Avengers about it immediately. Is that understood?"

Jasper gulped slightly from the bigger man's stern tone and nodded. "Understood."

Bruce quickly cleared his throat in order to break up the tense atmosphere. "So what kind of clues has SHIELD found here so far?"

Relieved by the subject change, Sitwell explained to the men everything that they've found. Four of the mutated human bodies were confirmed to be the same students that went missing while Dirk Jackson was still out in public. Judging by the degree of their mutation, it appeared that they were his very first projects. There was hardly anything left of decaying bodies that resembled anything human.

Bruce shuddered at the thought of his friend being trapped here and being experimented on for two long months. What kind of horrors had he endured before finally escaping and wreaking havoc on those who had captured him? The sound of Clint's voice was so weak and wrecked on the recording, and he even said that it was too late for him to return to the team, his family. What had that…that _**monster**_ Dirk Jackson done to his friend?!

"…And this is where we believe Agent Barton was held due to the amounts of his…blood that accumulated there," continued the agent, gesturing to the broken glass capsule. Several robotic hands hung above the glass prison, some of them held menacingly sharp needles that were most likely used to inject dangerous chemicals into the captured archer.

Stark's fist clenched angrily, Rogers' body trembled in rage, and Banner could barely keep himself from hulking out as images of Clint being held down and being used an experimental human pin cushion flashed through their minds. No doubt the injection process had been severely painful if the amount of blood that stained the floor was anything to go by.

Bending down Bruce collected several swabs of Clint's blood and placed them in a clear plastic bag. Hopefully the samples would give a glimpse into what kind of mutation Clint was subjected to. He then told Sitwell that he would be needing a sample of every transformed human as well. Sitwell seemed adamant about giving into the gamma scientist's request without the Director's consent, but all protests were stopped when he received an angry green eyed glare for his trouble.

Stark had taken up walking through the ruined laboratory, glancing at anything that hadn't been completely and utterly destroyed. There was computer monitor that lay on the metallic floor that still glowed with life while the others had been shattered or set on fire. As he got closer Tony wondered if this was the computer that Barton used to send out the information he gathered to SHIELD before spotting something else in the corner of his eye. Over by an over-turned work table lay what seemed to be some type of large dead animal. On closer inspection it appeared to be a wildcat-lizard hybrid that…had an arrow sticking out of its jugular.

"Hey guys, come over here quick!" shouted Tony. When Bruce, Steve, and Jasper arrived he pointed to his discovery. "Look what the SHIELD agents missed."

Agent Sitwell immediately bristled at the comment. "We are still working on getting everything collected, Mr. Stark. This is a very large facility and it takes time to get everything sorted out properly!"

Steve rolled his eyes as the two men bickered back and forth before reaching down to remove his team-mate's arrow from the creature's neck. But as soon as the arrow was free from its flesh, the hybrid's eyes shot open and a feral growl erupted from its lips, causing the four men to jump back in shock and fear.

"T-That thing's still a-alive after being stabbed in the throat?!" shouted Tony as his Iron Man suit began attaching to him.

Rogers quickly readied his shield for battle. "Apparently..."

The creature let out another growl, this one much louder than the first before lunging at Steve. Its long, sharp claws scratched uselessly against the shield before it found itself being thrown back by the soldier's superhuman strength. Tony followed the move up with a repulsor blast that sent it flying into the wall. The beast's broken body lay motionlessly on the ground.

"So, you've been playing possum all this time, huh?!" Iron Man blasted hybrid again for good measure. "There, that'll learn ya!"

Bruce let out a sigh of relief when everything was over. "Well, that was…interesting."

"Yeah," agreed the agent shakily before touching the radio device in his ear. "Attention all SHIELD personnel, make sure that everything that's dead now, stays dead!"

**XxXxXxX**

Natasha threw the bald headed scientist that had the misfortune of being the first one to wake up against the wall, hard. Her hand had a vice-like grip around his neck to keep him from moving lest he wanted it snapped like a twig. The way her bright green eyes were narrowed dangerously spoke in volumes on how close she was to killing him slowly and painfully. "Listen and listen well, Dr. Lemmings," she growled venomously. "I want you to tell me everything you know about Clint Barton."

"Who?" the man asked before letting out a yelp when the angry female's hand tightened around his windpipe. "I-I don't k-know anyone b-by that name!" the man knew he answered incorrectly when he received a sharp blow to the stomach which caused him to cry out in pain.

"It would be wise to tell us the truth, tiny mortal," growled Thor. He wielded his hammer close to the scientist's head to show how serious he was.

The bald man gulped around Natasha's fingers before trying to sputter out an answer. "I-I am still fairly new to Dr. Dirk's research t-team and none of the o-other scientists referred to the s-subjects by name. I-If you would…would give me a description of this Clint Barton then maybe I could…"

The female assassin finally removed her hand from the man's throat and watched as he slid helplessly to the ground, trying to catch his breath. "Clint Barton, male, late twenties, around 5 foot eight with short sandy-blond hair and blue-grey-green eyes. He would've been at your facility for around two months."

Realization ran through Lemmings' dark eyes. "A-Ah I think I know of whom you speak of. T-There had been talk around the lab that Dr. Dirk had found someone s-snooping around the area and decided to use him as an experiment. He was kept locked away in the b-b-back because he was simply to dangerous to left out in the open. He was rumored to be the perfect test subject. Young, at peak physical condition, healthy—ack!"

Thor's hammer had come mere centimeters from knocking the scientist's head clean off his shoulders. "You will not speak of our friend like he is some animal for you to use and throw away!" the demi-god snarled. He looked like he was ready to swing his weapon again.

Lemmings quickly nodded his head in fear of being murdered on the spot. "Honestly, I n-never managed to see the man. The o-only people who had any contact with him was Dr. Dirk and several others. I-I was away at the time when the l-laboratory got d-destroyed and when I returned there everything…everything was already in shambles. I didn't even see who knocked me out!"

Natasha continued to study the quivering man before deciding that he was telling her the truth for the most part. "Thank you for answering our questions, Dr. Lemmings," she said before placing a well aimed kick to the man's temple. Once the scientist was back in the land of unconsciousness, she and Thor left the interrogation room.

"So what do we do now, Lady Natasha?" asked Thor. He was still trying to shrug off the anger bubbling in his chest that Lemmings caused.

The red head shrugged. "We wait for the rest of the team to get back and hear what they've learned." She then smirked at her male companion. "And if anymore of the captured scientists wake up we'll interrogate them. And this time, you get to knock them out afterwards."

Thor returned the woman's smirk with one of his own and spun his hammer proudly. "Indeed!"

**XxXxXxX**

Clint buried his head into his pillow and refused to acknowledge anything anymore. The pain that thrummed through his body had been overshadowed by the pain that was building in his chest. He knew it was a bad idea to look, told himself a thousand times in his head that looking would only bring him grief. But he had looked anyway.

Tears that Clint had held back all this time were now leaking down his cheeks and being soaked into the fabric of the small pillow. His body lurched slightly from the sobs that he refused to release.

Over in the corner of the small room lay the stolen laptop that was now on its side with a large crack in the screen. On the broken screen was a message that had been sent not too long ago.

_**Clint, please come home**_

**END CHAPTER**

…

Chapter two is finished! I was surprised at how many reviewed this story.

Thanks for the reviews from Guest, RS13, Padria95, ELOSHAZZY, Sandy-wmd, ZhaLenn, and Fyroni.

Until next time, **BYE!**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING**

….

Clint winced as he wiped away the oozing blood from one of the many still healing wounds on his arm with a warm damp towel. Once the wound was clean from blood and disinfected with alcohol he wrapped it with fresh bandages. He did the same for his other injuries before dropping the dirty towel onto a pile of other used towels that accumulated in the corner of his small room. He sighed at the sight, but despite the many injuries that he sustained from his insane captor he was relieved that his blood still ran red. It showed that he was still somewhat normal.

The blonde flinched when he felt the nuisances on his back shudder. The action caused pain to shoot through his shoulders and more feathers to float to the ground. By now most of the floor was covered with white, brown, and gold feathers, but Clint's body was too sore to bend down and pick them up.

It was a little past midnight and the moon hung high in the dark sky just outside his window. Now was the perfect time that the archer could leave his room and go out into the world without anyone seeing him. He had to get rid of the bloodied towels before the hotel cleaning crew saw them. He knew they would be upset because of the missing towels, but the amount of blood on them would cause too much suspicion. They'd probably call the ambulance, the cops, or…the Avengers. Clint shuddered at the thought.

The archer grabbed a lab jacket that he stole from one of the scientists and threw it over his back to hide his wings before he gathered the towels into a small bag and made his way to the door. He cracked it open and checked the hallways to make sure they were empty before slipping out. The hotel Barton chose to crash in was old and run-down. The lights in the hallways were dim and flickered on and off every now and then, and there was a brown mouse that roamed the hallways like it owned the place. But Clint wasn't going to complain. It was a cheap place to stay and there was hardly anyone here, which suited him just fine. The less people who saw him, the better.

After secretly exiting the building, Clint made himself disappear into the night. Hopefully, he could find somewhere to dispose of the bloodied drying cloths without being seen.

**XxXxXxX**

"For the last time, I am not looking for a strawberry-blond male; I'm looking for sandy-blond male!" Tony yelled into the phone. The search for his missing teammate hadn't been going very well, and the leads they were getting weren't helping whatsoever. "Yes, there's a difference between them! Why don't you Google it and see for yourself?!"

"Tony, I don't think yelling at the man is going to help," said Steve with a shake of the head. His blue eyes widened and he added, "…And I don't think that gesture was really necessary either."

The genius ignored him in favor of yelling at the man on the phone. "You know what? Forget it! If you can't tell the difference between blondes then I'm sure you won't be any help to us!" With that said Tony ended the call and threw his cell phone across the room. He wasn't worried about it breaking, he built it after all. "Every freakin' lead has been a dead-end. It's like Clint's dropped off the face of the earth!"

Steve sighed softly. "Clint is one of SHIELD's best agents. Both Fury and Natasha say that if he doesn't want to be found then no one will find him." He let out another sigh. "That means finding Clint won't be easy."

"But why doesn't he want to be found?" questioned Stark as he began pacing around the living room. "Whatever happened to him, I'm sure we could help him, fix him…save him."

"Apparently, Clint doesn't think so," muttered Natasha as she and Thor entered the room. Their expressions were grave and their eyes were filled with disappointment. "None of the scientists nor personnel saw Clint, but they had heard from Dirk that his mutation was more advanced than any of the others. And SHIELD believes that this was the reason why Clint left them alive because none of them had anything to do with the experiments on him."

Tony then threw up his hands in frustration. "Great, more bad news. Legolas didn't leave any clues for us to use to find him. No one can ever say he was a bad agent." With a defeated sigh Stark scooped up his cell phone from the floor and made his way to the elevator. Maybe Bruce had some good news.

When the inventor made it down to the lab Bruce quickly waved him over to his work bench. "You gotta check this out," Bruce whispered, pointing to the microscope that had a sample of Clint's blood. "…It's worse than we thought."

**XxXxXxX**

Fire danced before Clint's tri-colored eyes as the contents of the large dumpster burned brightly through the night. Burning things was one of the best ways to destroy evidence and Clint was glad no one was around to watch him do it. In a way, the fire reminded him of the day he broke free of his cage and brought Dirk's mutation lab to the ground. The bright orange flames had burned through many of the computers and devices used to turn innocent humans into monsters. It also helped kill some of the bastard scientists that turned him into what he was today.

Dirk himself was caught in the blaze before he managed to escape the building. The low-life actually released some of the more savage creations on him in order to buy himself some time to get to his emergency jet. But hearing the asshole's screams of pain made it worthwhile. And because of the fire none of the experiments or research could be used again.

It was oddly comforting.

Once the fire began to die down Barton turned away and headed back to the hotel. The night had been quiet and Clint was relieved at that. So far, only one person had saw the archer in his new form and that was the female hotel receptionist, who was half-asleep and maybe even half-drunk when he first checked into the old hotel. In fact, the woman only glanced at him once before throwing the keycard at him. He had been lucky that she hadn't noticed his injuries or his barely concealed wings. It would've been hard to explain.

By the time he snuck past the half-asleep receptionist Clint hurried back to his room only to find the door ajar and voices coming from the inside. _'Crap,'_ he thought as he hid himself by ducking behind a wall. His heart hammered loudly in his chest and he was beginning to sweat, but he forced himself to calm down listen to voices.

"Are you kidding me? The guy broke the mirror?!" shouted a male voice. "Now I see why he wouldn't let us clean his room. He's a total slob."

"I know," said another voice, this time female. "And why the hell does he have all these feathers on the ground? What a freak!" The cleaning crew continued to make negative comments about their guest until they were finished cleaning the room. When they finally left Clint waited until they disappeared down the hall before he snuck back into his room and quietly closed the door behind him.

What a freak…what a freak…**what a freak**…

Clint had to admit that a small part of him was a little disappointed that voices in his room didn't belong to…any of Avengers. But now, but now he was glad it hadn't been them. Honestly, what would they have said if they had saw him? His wings refused to work no matter how hard he tried to get them to move, and whenever they moved without his consent it spurred intense pain in his shoulders and back. They were dead weight, which was what he would be to the Avengers. Barton let out a small sigh. Maybe it was better this way. SHIELD wouldn't have any trouble getting rid of him, but the Avengers, namely Captain America were too nice to outright kick him off the team. Clint didn't want their pity, nor did he want to make things hard on them.

He'd be okay because he was used to being alone. It would just be him and his…freaky wings.

"It's for the best," he whispered sadly. With a small sigh the sniper picked up the damaged laptop and continued searching for Dirk Jackson's whereabouts. His eyes began to burn, but he wouldn't let anymore tears escape. His friends would be alright without him, and he would be alright without them.

**XxXxXxX**

"Are…are you kidding me?" sputtered Tony as he read and re-read Bruce's test results. He felt himself struggling to catch his breath. He had watched and re-watched the images on the computer screen that showed what could possibly happen to Clint's body. This was not good, this was really not good. "How is this happening?!"

Bruce sadly shook his head, his coffee brown eyes filled with worry. "I don't know, Tony. All I know is that we have to find Clint, fast. Before it's too late."

Stark ran a shaky hand through his hair before nodding quickly. They'd have to double, no, triple their efforts in order to find the missing agent. Was this what Clint meant when he said it was too late for him?! He felt anger and worry burning up inside him. "When we find that…that suicidal archer I'm gonna wring his neck!"

Banner couldn't help but smile at his friend's renewed determination. They would find Clint, he just knew it. "First let's save him, then you can wring his neck."

**END CHAPTER**

…

Meh, I know it's short. I'll try to make it longer and update faster next time.

Thanks for the reviews from Guest, bearsrawesome, Hawaiichick, Lady of Slytherclaw, Patch Matrix, Padria95, Drake0, Clintashagolden16queen, Sandy-wmd, ELOSHAZZY, ZhaLenn, and Bookdancer.

Until next time, **BYE!**


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING**

…

Clint absentmindedly rubbed at his sore shoulders as he stared intently at the broken screen of his laptop to make sure he hadn't misread any of the information displayed there. It had taken a few days, but the archer had finally narrowed down the evil scientist's whereabouts to four possible locations. Unfortunately, only two of the locations were in New York, while the other two were in two different states. Dirk must know that he was coming after him so it was fair to think that the mad man would've went to farthest location to be safer. But, one could never be sure when dealing with the insane.

'_Should I at least get SHIELD involved in this?' _Clint thought to himself. He could send the coordinates to the secrets labs in Oklahoma and California to SHIELD while he searched the other two in New York. He thought about the plan for a while but threw it out when he realized something. The second he sent out a message to SHIELD it could and would be easily tracked by Stark and Banner and the team would have found him faster than he could make himself disappear.

In the end, it wouldn't be worth it.

'_Guess I'll have to go it alone.' _ With that thought in mind, Clint began devising ways to get him to his four destinations. Money was going to be a little tight since he couldn't use his limitless Stark credit card that Tony gave to each of the Avengers, and using the money from his account would lead the Avengers and SHIELD right to him. Luckily for him, the archer always carried a certain amount of money with him just in case he couldn't access his regular means. If he planned it right he could at least make it to three out of the four locations and hopefully Dirk would be there.

Clint looked to the ceiling that had mystery stains on it and sighed softly. Would it really be safe to go after Dirk by himself? If the man had other labs to go to then it wouldn't be a surprise if he created more mutants and was just waiting for the archer to show up. He would be walking right into a trap with no backup, no one to rely on. It was a suicide mission, but Clint had no other choice. Dirk Jackson could not be left to roam the earth while kidnapping innocent people and turning them into monstrous creatures. Clint would give his life to stop the man if he had to, because no one deserved to go through what he and so many others had went through already.

A small flinch swept through Barton's frame when aches of pain throbbed in his shoulders and other sore points on his body. The pain was starting to get worse. Another dose of pain relievers was in order, but after shaking the small bottle of medicine he realized he was completely out of pills. He threw the empty bottle across the room in a small fit of anger before pushing himself out of bed and making his way to the hotel room window. He was sort of thankful that he didn't have to walk over shards of glass anymore.

Rain had started to fall from the dark, cloudy sky and Clint knew that even less people would be out and about than before. The sniper could risk going out to retrieve some much needed medicine. And maybe this time he wouldn't find anyone in his room when he returned.

**XxXxXxX**

Natasha continuously slammed her fists into the punching bag that was usually reserved for Steve to vent out her anger after hearing the news about her stupid, stupid partner. When she finds that archer she was going to be the first to welcome him back to the team with a punch to the face. And maybe even throw in a head-butt for good measure.

"I still don't see why you get to be the first one to hit him," muttered Tony as he tossed a bottle of water her way. He had been watching the female as she laid into the innocent punching bag and knew she was due for a break.

Natasha caught the bottle without even looking and took a sip from it. "Ladies first, Stark, and also because I've known him longer than any of you have. It's only fair."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Of course," he said sarcastically.

The two fell into a small silence before the spy broke it. "How bad do you think it's going to be when we find him?" she asked softly.

The inventor shrugged his shoulders and leaned back against the wall. There were too many possibilities on what Clint had been turned into judging by the creatures that had been recovered by SHIELD. Every night he thought about the roaring wildcat-lizard hybrid and wondered what Clint would look like in that form. "I honestly don't know what to think. Bruce hasn't figured it out either because Clint's blood was contaminated with the others. It's going to take him a while."

Natasha nodded and downed a little more of her water. "And what do you think SHIELD's reaction is going to be? Fury, Hill, and Sitwell might be more accepting to him, but the other agents…"

Tony snorted. "I couldn't give two flying fucks about what SHIELD thinks! Clint's ours, and no mutation is ever going to change that. If they have a problem with that, well that's too fucking bad." He pushed himself from the wall and made his way over to where the female sat and offered his hand. "I know you're worried that our view of Clint will change because of this, but I promise you that nothing will be different. Legolas will still be our friend, our family."

The red head felt the corner of her lips twitch in an almost smile at that and accepted the male's hand. It was good to know that nothing would change. If only Clint would believe those words…

**XxXxXxX**

Steve draped a small blanket over Bruce's shoulders and cleaned up the mess of empty coffee mugs off his work desk. Bruce didn't even stir once as the clutter around him disappeared. The poor man must've worn himself out looking for a cure for Barton.

"Friend Banner is really working hard, is he not?" asked Thor as he helped Steve clear out some of the clutter. "When was the last time he's slept?"

"Who knows? I don't get how he and Tony can operate properly when they only get like one hour of sleep per week."

"It is the magic of coffee that has such an ability," Thor replied with a smile. "Friend Clint says that the men of science would not be able to survive without it."

The captain found himself smiling as well. "He's probably right about that," he said as he watched the sleeping doctor shift in his sleep and mutter something about not touching chemicals with bare hands. Their missing team-mate seemed to make a habit of doing that despite the many warnings from the gamma genius. He was too curious sometimes. "We should have a cup of coffee waiting for Bruce when he wakes up."

"Already done, Cap," said Tony as he and Natasha exited the elevator. In the woman's hands was a large cup of steaming hot coffee just the way the doctor liked it. "I swear Brucie always pushes himself too hard."

The demi-god gave the inventor a puzzled look. "But Man of Iron, do you not do the same thing on a regular basis?"

"He sure does, Thor. And there's a word for that, I think it's irony?"

"Hey, I thought you were asleep!"

The now awake scientist adjusted his glasses properly on his face. "Who can sleep with all this noise?" he asked. He thanked Natasha for the coffee and took a sip from it. Slowly the sleepiness started ebbing away. "Are we having a group meeting or something?"

"We were just checking up on you, Bruce. We didn't mean to wake you up," said Rogers with a sheepish smile. "We can leave if you need more sleep."

Banner shook his head. "It's alright; I only needed a little sleep to rest my eyes. How's the search going?"

"Nothing to report so far," Natasha sighed. Sometimes she wished Clint wasn't so good at hiding. "How are things on your end?"

"I'm almost done with the cure that will help save Clint, but I need a direct sample of his blood to complete it." Bruce then rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Of course this is going to be impossible if we can't find him."

Thor patted the distressed doctor on the back. "Do not worry, Friend Banner. We will find him soon."

"I know we will, but _**when**_ will we find him?" The room grew silent at the question. No one had an answer for that one.

Suddenly the sound of Stark's AI resounded in the room. _"Please excuse me for the interruption, Sir, but a match has been found."_

**XxXxXxX**

Clint really wished he had suffered through the pain instead of leaving the safety of his rundown hotel room. He couldn't see it, but he knew something was out there with him on the dark, empty streets. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on end and so were his feathers on his concealed wings. The sniper was glad that he managed to recover the guns that were taken from him by the scientists because he was sure he would need them to get out of this situation.

In the darkness several pair of glowing green eyes appeared and soft growls echoed through the air. The sound of the growls were so unearthly it almost convinced Clint that they came from the pits of hell. Readying his gun he waited for them to make the first move. Each shot would have to count and if these things were anything like those kitty-lizard things he was in trouble.

There was a sharp growl on his right and Clint found himself face to face with a large wolf-like creature that looked almost…human. It lunged at him with its razor like teeth bared, aimed at his throat. Clint managed to avoid being bitten in the throat, but the wolf monster chomped down hard on one of his wings. Immediately, three others emerged from the shadows, slowly creeping forward as the archer struggled with the first one.

"Son of a bitch, let go!" Barton yelled as blood flowed free from the wound. He aimed a kick at the wolf's ribs which got the thing to let go. Without wasting time he fired his gun right between the wolf's eyes and watched as it fell to the ground, dead. "Alright, who's next?"

Another wolf hybrid, grey in color, dashed forward. Clint waited until the very last second before dodging the attack and grabbed the creature's tail. With a quick spin, he tossed the wolf into several metal trash bins and followed it up with three shots to its body. The last two decided to attack together and soon the man found himself on his back with two raving mutants on top of him. Growls and snarls echoed in his ears as pain blossomed through the broken skin of his arms and legs. Still healing wounds were being ripped back open and blood was streaming freely from them.

'_This is bad,'_ Clint thought as panic started to set in. He was outnumbered two to one and the combined weights of the beasts were starting to crush the air out of him. But he knew he couldn't die here, he had a mission to complete. So with the last of his strength he kicked one of the mutant wolves hard in the stomach, which was enough to flip it over and off of him. The action freed the hand holding onto the gun and Clint used the weapon to fire at the wolf still on top of him. The two bullets to the throat dropped the creature to the floor. Just one left.

The remaining wolf glared at the sniper with hatred in its eyes, but instead of attacking it turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Clint thought about chasing after it, but he was too tired and if he didn't bandage up these wounds soon he would bleed to death.

'_Just…gotta make it back to the hotel,'_ he thought before walking sluggishly back to his current residence. Of course the hotel receptionist would be wide awake and screaming at the sight of his bloodied figure. She offered, well, declared that she would call the ambulance to take him to the hospital, but he waved her off, saying that he just got back from a costume party. "I went as a zombie fallen angel. I actually won first place because of the realistic fake blood."

"Oh my God," the young woman whispered. She reached out slowly, but stopped herself from touching his wings. "Your costume…looks so real."

Clint felt himself teetering back and forth into unconsciousness, but he forced himself to look normal. "Yeah, I know. It actually feels pretty real too."

He excused himself and quickly walked back to his room. Once he locked the door, the winged hero allowed exhaustion to fully impact his body and soon he was on the floor, panting in pain. He was completely out of energy and black spots were dancing before his eyes. With every breath he took the blond felt the urge to pass out more and more. This had to be the worst mission ever, but he was glad he didn't have to face anymore surprises.

***BANG***

Barton nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw his door suddenly fly across the room. His tri-colored eyes widened when he saw a familiar looking hammer pinning the destroyed wooden door to the opposite wall and an even more familiar looking blond entered the room followed by several others.

"Brother Hawk, are you…" the words faltered at the sight of the younger man. A number of gasps soon filled the room.

"C-Clint…?"

"Oh my God…!"

"Oh no…!"

Too many emotions ran through Clint's mind and too much blood was leaving his body. Somehow unconsciousness didn't seem so bad right now. "Y-You guys are p-paying for that door," he muttered before he surrendered to the darkness.

**END CHAPTER**

…**..**

I suck at fighting scenes. Hopefully I'm not moving too fast with this story. Tell me what you think.

Thanks for the reviews from Drake0, Sandy-wmd, Padria95, Fyroni, Thaddeus MacChuzzlewit, ZhaLenn, and Bookdancer.

To Drake0, I hope you have a safe trip!

Until next time, **BYE!**


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